Labour Party
The Labour Party, abbreviated to Labour or LP, was a progressive left-wing political party in Lovia. The party was founded in November 2011 as a merger between the Socialist Progressive Party, a breakaway of the Communist Party of Lovia (neo-marxist), another leftist party, and the Social Democratic Party and the Working Families Party. The three parties had been discussing a leftist coalition at a convention of leftist parties in October before the party was created by Villanova. The Labour Party controlled nineteen seats in the 2011 Second Congress. This number was increased to twenty-five at the inauguration of the 2012 Congress. The ideology of Labour was focused on leftism and progressivism, and environmentalism and labour rights were also strongly supported. Labour was regarded to be by far the largest socialist party in Lovia, and was allied with other leftist parties, including the CPL.nm and Social Liberal Party. The party finished in first place in the 2012 Federal Elections, and formed a grand coalition with other parties across the spectrum. The former leader and chairman of the party was Marcus Villanova, a former Prime Minister of Lovia and currently Minister of Tourism and Sport, in the position since the party's founding. Other past important members included Steven Robinson and other Villanova family members, who were MOTCs. In 2013, the Labour Party was disbanded as Marcus Villanova left to join the newly-founded United Left, along with numerous other party members, including now-deputy leader of United Left, Marcel Cebara. History After then-Prime Minister Marcus Villanova and six other communist MOTCs broke away from the Communist Party of Lovia (neo-marxist) in September 2011, he founded the Socialist Progressive Party, lasting approximately two months. In October 2011, Justin Abrahams, then the leader of the Social Democratic Party, would approach Villanova to talk about a possible merger. They agreed to create a forum of leftist parties later in the month. All left-wing parties were invited to the forum, including the CPL.nm. After two weeks of discussions, the Socialist Progressive Party and the Social Democratic Party, along with a smaller party, the Working Families Party, agreed to merge and forum Labour. The party was in existence de facto by the end of November, but was only officially declared to exist on December 11, 2011. The party had nineteen seats in the 2011 Second Congress, equally that the previously largest party, the CPL.nm. After the merger, several politicians would join, including Jhon Lewis, a famous business owner and actor. 2012 Congress Yuri Medvedev, the long-time leader of the Communists, announced his retirement from politics in December. As the more extreme party fell into inactivity and lost most of its support, the primary leftist party in Lovia became Labour. The 2012 Federal Elections were a net loss for leftist parties in Lovia, due to the drop from nineteen to three seats for the Communists; however, Labour managed to increase its seat count from nineteen to twenty-five. Despite the promising result, Villanova was not chosen as Prime Minister in the government of the 2012 Congress. Instead, Oos Wes Ilava of the Conservative Christian Party of Lovia became PM, presiding over a grand coalition of parties across the political spectrum. Villanova became Minister of Tourism and Sport, Abrahams became Minister of Transportation, and Lewis became Minister of Agriculture. Labour aided in pushing through reforms, such as the census reform and settlement reform. The party's proposal for a reform of state politics and creation of state councils sparked interest among Lovian politicians, although it was eventually rejected in Congress. Lewis would defect to the CCPL in March, leaving Labour with twenty-four seats. 2012 State Elections and 2012 State Reform In August 2012, the Natsionalistiski Parti 'Oshenna became an official associate, called a satellite by some, of the party located in Oceana. Although the Labour Party continued to have a running chapter in Oceana until its disbandment, the number of votes for the party started to become rather low, with fewer votes than the CCPL and SLP. Since a combination of the two parties, called a merger by some, the two parties combined had a five percent gain in party membership in Oceana. In the 2012 State Elections, Labour defended two incumbents: Villanova in Sylvania and Abrahams in Clymene. In addition, Annabelle Mayer ran in Kings. After a close vote, the elections ended in Villanova's narrow defeat in Sylvania against Conservative Nationalist Party politician Lukas Hoffmann. Villanova became deputy governor. Abrahams won a healthy victory in Clymene, and Mayer finished third place in Kings. Labour's associate in Oceana, NPO, endorsed Oos Wes Ilava, who was successful in his re-election campaign. Despite the endorsement, many political experts said that Ilava would have won anyway. In response, NPO chairman Alžbeta Lenka stated, "Ilava was running against a liberal-progressive. Many of our party members would have voted against Oos due to differences in ideology. We told them that good leadership was more important and endorsed Ilava." Labour did not run or endorse any candidate in Seven. In state council elections, Labour performed well, winning a plurality of seats in the Clymene State Council and Kings State Council, and second place in the Sylvania State Council, second only to the CNP. In Seven, the party didn't run a large campaign and didn't flood the state with campaign spending as was done in Sylvania, but still fared well in the election turnout. The party finished tied for second place, along with the party 7 (regionalist party) and behind the CCPL, with five seats out of thirty. In the Oceana Advisory State Board, Labour did not run, but still received one seat as the Oceanan council gives the five largest parties in Congress one seat. 2013: Reforms and Disbandment SLPvote.png|Train Village Labour Party material sylvanialabourpartywithslogan.png|The official Labour Party local elections slogan Labour dipped in the polls when strong turnout areas like Noble City and the greater Noble City area, turned out more for centrist and conservative counter-parts. The Party won 13 seats in a very close, contested and heated election. Party Leader Marcus Villanova said he would try to work harder in Congress for the people so next election they could become the most represented party again. Afterwards along with Deputy leader Justin Abrahams, many Labour MOTCs left to the newly formed Social Christian Party, a centrist, center-left party. Afterwards the leaving of the center-left factions the party decided to become totally dedicated to Labour Unions, since most of the memberhsip and support came from them. Since the split the party has moved to more socialist policies. After dipping to seven seats the Party introuced Young Labour the youth wing of the Labour party to attract youth to join the Labour party. In addition the Labour Party deputy leadership election, 2013 occured to replace Justin Abrahams. The election took place by single transferable vote, with the results being announced on March 17th, at the Labour Congress. After the short contest, Thomas Inouye became the Deputy Leader, being the first minority leader to the Labour Party, and first elected contest ever in it's type. After the election businessman and lawyer Marcel Cebara joined the party expressing interest for it's strong left views on universal health care, and LGBT rights. In the April, the Party connected ties with a Bruanter Party, the Socialist Party. This was a good connection between two countries with very good relations and to strengthen leftist ties. The Socialist Party, in that month, won over 15 seats in the Bruanter Congress, almost doubling their seat share, riding a leftist wave of politics in that country. With Governor Hoffmann of Sylvania calling for local elections, the first of their kind, in the Train Village area to promote growth and devolution. Marcus thanked the governor and said that due to the shared viewpoints on helping Sylvania, that they should sit together as one party in the Train Village Local Council after the elections. In these elections, Labour won two seats on the Train Village Local Council, with Marcel Cebara and Joseph Yorn becoming councillors. Soon after, elections also occured for the Charleston Local Council. Local politician Jane Moss tied with independent Charles Alexander Bennett, with each winning five seats. In June 2013, after former Labour deputy leader Justin Abrahams left the Social Christian Party, talks of a merger began between Abrahams and Villanova begun. The two formed United Left, along with the Newhaven People's Party, with Abrahams becoming leader of the new party, and Marcel Cebara, a local politician and businessman from Charleston becoming deputy leader of United Left, which was officially formed on July 25, 2013. The official disbandment of the Labour Party began in September 2013, with many of the party's offices and resources being handed over to United Left. Connected labour unions The Labour Party, as its name implies, was affiliated with many large and small labour unions in Lovia. The first union to be officially affiliated with the party was the Miners Union of Lovia, which some political analysts have claimed was the link to the NPO becoming an affiliate. Afterward, the Vox Populi union became an affiliate after ending its affiliation with the CPL.nm. In August and September Union Lovia and Union of Lovian Educators also became members. The second biggest union was the Union of Bus Drivers and Mechanics, which is active across all five states with approximately 2,229 members. The last Unions affiliated were the Players Union of Lovia which represents the professional sportsmen of Lovia, Lovia United which represents firemen and policemen, and Harmony, an Union affiliated with public sector workers in Healthcare. Unions by size *Vox Populi - 3,586 members across Lovia *Union of Bus Drivers and Mechanics - 2,229 members across Lovia *Union of Lovian Educators - 2,158 members across Lovia *Lovia United - 1,358 members across Lovia *Miners Union of Lovia - 907 members across Oceana and Sylvania *Union Lovia - 539 members across Lovia *Harmony - 475 members across Lovia *Players Union of Lovia - 320 members across Lovia *Overall membership from Unions and are Labour Party members - 11,572 Party Membership Back in 2012 the party saw early support from traditionally leftist areas like Clymene and other urban cities. In statewide and national elections these areas, like Train Village, Noble City and the Greater Noble City Area, Nicholasville, Beaverwick, Portland, Newhaven, East Hills and the state of Clymene. The party saw its peak membership at about 23,000 members before the Federal Elections, 2013 but when some of the party and it's MOTCs left to the Social Christian Party, it dropped to 16,000 becoming a majority Labour Union membership party. Before the Deputy Leadership election in 2013, membership was at 16,023 with 11,572 members labour union affiliated. State by state the membership is enrolled as of March 2013: *Clymene - 5,016 *Sylvania - 4,301 *Kings - 2,990 *Oceana (NPO) - 2,887 *Seven - 829 Other Connected bodies Labour Milk Labour Milk was the connected body to the Party which supported and advocated for LGBT equality. The group had about 600 members who are either of the LGBTQ community or supporters of the community. The group was for Labour Party members only, and costed two dollars a year to join. The group held a yearly rally with other LGBT groups and supporters in Noble City to open up a dialogue about the LGBTQ community and it's rights. The namesake of the group was Harvey Milk, american gay rights activist. Young Labour Young Labour was the group which advocated for youth rights and was used as a community forum for young Labour members. According to membership dues and figures, there were about 797 members. Membership came with an official Labour Party membership, both at a discounted rate of 25%. It is allowed for members between the age of 15 and 25. The group was very progressive and was usually seen along side Labour Milk in supporting equal rights and progressive movements. Politics Party image The current image of the party has been low. The party has voted progressively on issues, and often in opposition to the Ilava I Government. The image, unlike the previous leftist and liberal parties, has stayed pretty clean. In 2012, Labour began allowing unions to become affiliated with the party, which has caused the party to receive some criticism from the right. Party Logo The party logo was modeled after The Span a bridge that connects Truth Island and Asian Island, opened in 2005 and heavily built by trade union workers. Clymene, a Labour stronghold, usually uses the span in advertisement to help draw voters in the state to the polls. Although the same logo was used in Sylvania, Kings and Seven state party logos were the same bridges but with colors relating to there respective bridges, the Connection Bridge and Nielsen Bridge. Oceana's party logo was the NPO logo. Lovian Labour Party.png|National party logo sylvanialabourparty.png|Sylvania Labour Party kingslabourparty.png|Kings Labour Party clymenelabourparty.png|Clymene Labour Party NPO-Slovak.png|NPO - Slovak logo NPO-English.png|NPO - English logo NPO-Oceana.png|NPO - Oceana logo NPO-Dutch.png|NPO - Dutch logo NPO-French.png|NPO - French logo NPO-Limburgish.png|NPO - Limburgish NPO.png|NPO logo sevenlabourparty.png|Seven Labour Party Representation around Lovia at time of disbandment *Congress - 7 seats out of 100 seats *Seven State Council - 5 seats out of 30 seats *Clymene State Council - non existent *Sylvania State Council - 7 seats out of 30 seats *Kings State Council - 6 seats out of 30 seats *Oceana Advisory State Board - 1 seat out of 30 seats (Labour sits with the NPO, giving them 4 seats out of 30 seats) Congressional Labour Party The Congressional Labour Party was the Labour Party's congressional Party in Congress where Labour Party and NPO members sat together as one as the CLP. Besides for formalities, the CLP was nothing more than the Party MOTC's in congress. The Party Leader also led the CLP. Party Congress and Conference The Labour Party Congress, much like the (UK) Labour Party's NEC, was an elected body from party members through out Lovia. The party congress was quite large, and youth members, union leaders, regular party members, and all congressmen and governors received seats. The party met in Downtown Noble City. Main Page: Labour Congress Conference One of the first acts of the 2013 Labour Congress was to introduce the yearly Party Conference which would be used for MOTCs, other party Council Members, and other Union and Labour Congress members to make speeches to Labour Party members and be televised throughout Lovia for the citizens to watch. In case of a leadership election, the results would be announced at the conference. The first Conference took place in the Blue Colosseum Room February 16-17, 2013. Speeches were made by several top Labour MOTCs like Marcus Villanova, Justin Abrahams and Steven Robinson. One prominent message in Villanova's speech was that 2014, would be his last election as Labour leader if they did not form a government coalition or win over 30 seats. Shortly after the conference when, Justin Abrahams left to help the more centrist Social Christian Party, Marcus Villanova changed his position on his leadership saying he would hold a leadership election in early 2014, and would stand. Platform Abortion * The Labour Party will support any law giving women their full rights to choose in their interests. * Our party wants a National Health Care service, but does not want abortions to be covered by the government, or just a part of the price covered for low income families. Asylum and Immigration * The Labour Party promotes any law supporting a limited immigration policy, but would still allow a good amount of people into the country. * Asylum will be limited to about 575 people a year, mainly from war and poverty stricken nations. Budget and Debt/Economic Management/Tax Policy * The policy of the Labour Party on the role of Government spending, is to spend to help the people in the country and invest in Infrastructure, Social Security, NHS, Welfare, and other Government Jobs. * The Party also believes that these should be offset with Revenue and other incomes. * The Party has members which have already promoted the LSCA which creates millions of revenue each year and have also created revenue by using tourism. * The Party believes the role of Government is not to prohibit the life's of people but to make it better with social programs and such. * The Party would like to adopt a national lottery, most of the money going to various charities but some going to the government, * The party would like to implement, along with the other revenues, these Taxes: Income, Insurance, VAT, Corporation, Capital Gains, Tobacco, Wine and Beer tax, Stamp tax, Inheritance Tax, Gas and Gas related Tax, and Property Tax. * The Party supports large regulation on all banks so people aren't harmed, and some regulation on large companies to make sure they play by the rules. Education * The Labour Party endorses a fully funded Public school education, with actual learning standards. * The Party would like to fully re-do the Lovian Public school system. Environment * The Party will support any law that protects the environment. * In the business side of the Environment, The party supports: ** Renewables like, Solar panels, Hydroelectric Energy, and Wind turbines ** A small tax on cars that use gas, and a small rebate on Electric/eco Cars. ** A tax on all forign oils that enter the country. Gay Rights/Civil Rights * The Party fully supports Gay Rights, and supports any bill for full equality. Law and Order/Military/National Security * The Party supports a large draft of more policemen in the force. * The party is fully against UNLOR or any such force. * The Party wants to train policemen in combat in case of an emergency. * There is no current threat to National Security and no action should be taken. NHS * There should a fully governmental Healthcare service for all citizens in Lovia. * This should be paid through progressive taxation. * This also includeds Social Security and Medicare which promotes and protects the NHS for senoirs. Unemployment/Post Offices * The unemployment rate will be relinqueshed by the plans set out before and hiring of many unemployed people. * The Governments main plain, other than those set out before, is to nationalize all private post offices in Lovia and create one large Post Office, since air mail is still a thriving force in Lovia. * The progressive taxation of all companies allows for small companies and neighborhood businesses to hire people. Lovian Sectionalism *The Labour Party fullly supports state legislatures, or state councils which allows local needs to be taken care of. *The party supports the Oceanic movement and the NPO to enrichen the culture of the people. *In addition we support Amish Kinley and LRC's and Seven cultural rights. Former members (Years in Congress) * Marcus Villanova (2010-) - Party leader, Deputy Governor of Sylvania and State Council member (2012-) * Andrew Villanova (2011-) * Steven Robinson (2011-) * Emily Villanova (2011-) * Joseph Yorn (2011-2013) * Thomas Schweitzer (2011-2013) * Thomas Inouye (2011-) * Danny Villanova (2011-2013) - Member of the Sylvania State Council * Andy McCandless (2010-2012) * Martha Van Ghent (2010-2012) * Jimmy Walton (2012-2013) * James Kendall (2012-2013) * Jessica Willough (2012-) * Hank Reuenski (2012-2013) * Marcel Cebara * Ramani Kapoor * Jane Moss See also *United Left *List of political parties in Lovia Category:Political party Category:Labour Party Category:Former political party